'Sex questions necessary'

2002-04-27 16:09

Cape Town - Presidential Press Corps (PPC) candidates will be expected to complete a questionnaire and, if necessary, follow-up interviews, but will not be required to undergo a polygraph test, Intelligence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said on Saturday.

She was responding to concerns raised in the media over intrusive and "unsavoury" questioning of candidates by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), as part of the security clearance procedures for the PPC.

Sisulu said in a statement that an investigation of records of interviews already conducted showed that no unsavoury questions had been posed by NIA members to the press, as reported in the media.

"I do, though, understand that some of the candidates might have found the questioning uncomfortable and, as indicated last week, we sincerely apologise for this."

The new presidential press corps is modelled along the lines of the White House press corps which has privileged access to the president and travels with him on occasion.

The minister last weekend apologised for the "alleged insensitive and unsavoury" questioning of journalists following press reports that the NIA had been asking for full details of journalists' sex lives, as part of the security clearance process.

List of sexual partners

The questions apparently included whether or not the candidate had ever practised homosexual sex, and asked for a complete list of sexual partners. They also wanted a financial track record of the journalist.

Sisulu said candidates were required to reply to a questionnaire for minimum clearance considerations, and could be asked for follow-up interviews.

A polygraph test, though, did not form part of the normal clearance process.

"While our investigation has been concluded, I urge any PPC candidate who might still feel aggrieved to raise your concerns directly with me so that they are addressed."

"It should be borne in mind that the security competence test is a vital counter-intelligence method, and in every sense is aimed at eliminating any threats to the protection of strategic state information and the life of the President and Cabinet members," she said.

Meanwhile, Parliament's joint standing committee on Intelligence (JSCI) on Saturday came out in support of the NIA and criticised "gross misrepresentation" in the media.

"NIA provided adequate explanation and the JSCI was satisfied with the necessity, the level and on the whole the process of the testing," the committee's chairperson Dr Siyabonga Cwele said in a statement.

- SAPA